Social conservative hopes same-sex marriage ban lasts

AUSTIN — Next year, most likely in late June, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the Defense of the Marriage Act, the 1996 federal legislation that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

And though gay, lesbian and transgender communities across the nation will anxiously await the court’s ruling, so will social conservatives such as Warren Chisum.

For Chisum, who in two weeks ends a 24-year career in the Texas House of Representatives, the court’s ruling will be more than a reaffirmation of his conservative values or a major disappointment.

It’ll be kind of personal, too.

In 2005, the Pampa Republican, one of the leading social conservatives in the statehouse for more than two decades, authored a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in the state, a measure Texas voters approved overwhelmingly later that year.

Except in Travis County — where Austin is the county seat — the amendment passed in every county and the statewide vote was nearly 80 percent in favor of it, Chisum noted.

Although he doubts a ruling against the Act would have an impact on the law he authored, Chisum doesn’t discount attempts to repeal it or the possibility that his constitutional amendment could be legally challenged.

“Anything is possible, but this is a federal law,” he said of the Act also known for by acronym, DOMA.

“What we passed here is a state law and the Supreme Court is respectful of state laws and Texas voters spoke loud and clear,” Chisum stressed. “Texans believe that marriage is only between and a woman.”

Even DOMA’s opponents agree it is hard to tell what impact a court ruling against the Act would have on the Texas law that denies legal status to same-sex couples.

“We certainly support the right of people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identification, to marry whoever they want,” said Chuck Smith of Austin. “But I can’t tell you whether it will have an impact on Texas.”

Smith is executive director of Equality Texas, an organization that lobbies the Texas Legislature to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In last year’s session there was a legislative attempt to repeal Chisum’s bill, Smith noted.

Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, a good friend of Chisum even though they are on opposite sides on almost every issue, authored House Joint Resolution 102, a constitutional amendment aimed at repealing the 2005 law.

However, Coleman’s bill didn’t even get a committee hearing in the Republican-dominated House.

Coleman has said he will try again in next year’s session.

“Support for marriage equality is growing with each passing day,” he recently wrote on his website. “The American people no longer support discrimination in any form, and I have full confidence that DOMA will be overturned — one way or another — in the near future.”

Always the social conservative, Chisum said he hopes it doesn’t happen and that his constitutional amendment stays in the books.